Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

Created: 09/18/13

Replies: 14

Posted Sep. 18, 2013
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admin

Join Date: 10/11/10

Posts: 369

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Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

Posted Sep. 30, 2013
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bonnieb

Join Date: 09/11/11

Posts: 105

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RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

Every narrator had a bit of a different story to tell and that helped the reader to get different perspectives on what was happening and why. I liked the various points of view and the different narrators. It added to the novel.

Posted Sep. 30, 2013
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dorothyt

Join Date: 04/10/11

Posts: 102

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RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

duBois wants her readers to understand the psychological make up of the four characters. I found this a little confusing when she changes voices because the time settings were not chronological. I had to read several paragraphs before I knew when I was and who was speaking.

Posted Sep. 30, 2013
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Erin G

Join Date: 05/24/12

Posts: 41

RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

The alternating perspectives show how little we see of what's going on inside a person's head. Every character was more sympathetic when you understood them, no matter how cruel (Eduardo) or ineffectual (Andrew) or strange (Sebastien) they appeared from the outside. Seeing what they each saw when they looked at Lily made clear how difficult it is to pin down who a person really is, what they're really like.

Posted Oct. 01, 2013
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mariannes

Join Date: 12/17/12

Posts: 206

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RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

I think the different viewpoints showed different truths. For example, Beatriz said her husband was depressed, and Lily said he was drunk.

Posted Oct. 01, 2013
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mariannes

Join Date: 12/17/12

Posts: 206

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RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

I think the different viewpoints showed different truths. For example, Beatriz said her husband was depressed, and Lily said he was drunk.

Posted Oct. 02, 2013
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dianec

Join Date: 03/15/12

Posts: 21

RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

Yes to everything expressed above!

As I read, I became increasingly conscious of the Amanda Knox undercurrent. That story was presented and re-presented in wildly contradictory versions. Getting all the viewpoints mimicked that unnerving feeling that no one is telling the truth - that we will never know what really happened. Lily and Sebastien are such odd, enigmatic characters, while Eduardo runs on gut instinct. Who to believe?

Posted Oct. 02, 2013
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pennyp

Join Date: 03/22/12

Posts: 221

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RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

I liked the story being told from different points of view because that is reality. Rarely do four people see an incident in exactly the same way, so for me, this added a sense of truth to the novel

Posted Oct. 04, 2013
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tracyb

Join Date: 09/22/11

Posts: 58

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RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

Yes Amanda Knox...who can we believe...what is truth??? It becomes clear how and why people interpreted actions like the cartwheel differently. duBois takes into account the end goal of guilty or innocent as the beginning of a tale. The strengths, insecurities and egos of these four people were clearly influencing the confusion of who to believe.

Posted Oct. 06, 2013
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alisonf

Join Date: 01/31/13

Posts: 80

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RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

I found the different voices very effective and helped explain motive and perspective without really answering the mystery. It also showed the affect of this tragedy on the whole family. I particularly liked Anna's perspective and without Eduardo the charges and trial wouldn't have made sense.

Posted Oct. 10, 2013
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patm

Join Date: 12/05/12

Posts: 11

RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

The four points of view, let the readers see Lily from different dimensions, but they still do not tell the whole story of what makes this girl tick. Lily is finding her way to adulthood. sometimes choosing the the wrong path. Sebastien seems to understand Lily and her motives more than any other character, but Sebastien, himself is a flawed character. Lily's father is so riveted with remorse and past history that he is no help. Anna is the practical one. While Eduardo is pompous.

Posted Oct. 11, 2013
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beverlyj

Join Date: 12/22/11

Posts: 49

RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

I thought using the four different narrators served the story well. As stated at the beginning of the book that the things that go wrong are really the things you did not think would be a worry, so the four different narrators helped to illustrate this point. While it was Lily's life on the line, each narrator saw her differently and focused on different point of personality to help them form opinions of her being guilty or innocent.

Posted Oct. 11, 2013
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amyw

Join Date: 03/12/13

Posts: 10

RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

The different points of view showed different "truths" and perspectives. It reminds me of that saying in every argument there are three sides- my side, your side and the truth. Each person brings his/her own baggage to the story that effects his/her view on Lily. I wonder if Maria never left Edwardo the first time if he would have been so certain that Lily was guilty. If Janie never died would Lily even have felt the need/desire to study abroad. At one point at the beginning of the story the picture Edwardo painted of Lily was so bad that I thought maybe she did do it- but then the I heard some of the story from Lily's perspective and thought she was misunderstood. I do not think the book would have been as good or intriguing if it was not told from four different narrators.

Posted Oct. 15, 2013
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mystinamarie

Join Date: 12/19/12

Posts: 37

RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

I think Jennifer duBois chose four points of view because she wanted to show each side of the story and how each person is going to interpret the same scenario differently. I did find it a little repetitive throughout the novel, though. Some parts were a little similar for my tastes, even repeating some of the same sentences about the same experience. But I did like getting in different characters' heads because it broke the novel up, where most just have one voice throughout.

Posted Oct. 16, 2013
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judyk

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 13

RE: Why do you think Jennifer duBois chose to tell the story from four points of view? How does that affect the experience of reading it?

Yes to all the above comments. I think she also used the different points of view as a method of character development. Lily comes across quite differently as she is seen from Andrew's, Eduardo's, or Sebastien's viewpoints and the reader has to put it together. On the other hand, it was difficult to get a full picture of Katy, having almost only Lily's point of view and a slight bit from Sebastien. It made her seem not alive, which of course she wasn't by the middle of the story.